Reno: ‘No regrets’ over Elian action
‘Quiet time’ for father, son but relatives, others voice anger
WASHINGTON, April 24 — No politicians, TV cameras or lawyers in their
way. That’s what
Elian Gonzalez and his father needed, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno
told NBC News
Monday, and that’s what she provided by ordering that Elian be forcibly
removed from his
great uncle’s Miami home. But others — among them Reno’s mediator in the
drama — were still
questioning the commando tactics used to reunite Elian with his father.
RENO TOLD NBC’s “Today” show that she had “no regrets whatsoever” because
she felt she had
“bent over backwards” to accommodate the Miami relatives and Cuban American
exile leaders opposed
to seeing Elian return to Cuba.
“We tried and tried, we were told we’d have a deal if we did certain things
and we did and it
evaporated,” she said. “We kept getting mixed signals.”
Reno emphasized that while armed federal agents carried out the operation,
“force was not used, it
was a show of force” to prevent people from getting hurt.
The operation was designed to be as “least disruptive” as possible, Reno
said, adding that “we did
what we had to do” to allow Elian and his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez,
to have the “quiet time” needed
to reunite after five months apart.
“It’s a time for politicians and television cameras and attorneys general
and others to get out of their
lives,” she added.
MEDIATOR ‘SHOCKED’
Asked if she’d allow Elian’s Miami relatives to see him, Reno said she
would be talking to psychiatrists
and other experts Monday to discuss what’s best for the boy.
Those critical of Reno’s action include her own mediator in the drama,
Miami lawyer Aaron Podhurst.
Podhurst, a friend of Reno’s for the last 30 years, told “Today” that he
was “shocked” by the events,
which he saw unfold on television as he waited on hold to talk to Reno.
A deal, Podhurst thought, was just “minutes or within an hour away.”
Contradicting Reno’s assessment, Podhurst said the only changes made during
negotiations were by the
government, not Elian’s Miami relatives or Cuban American leaders.
QUIET EASTER FOR ELIAN
Elian spent a quiet Easter with his father, stepmother
and stepbrother at Andrews Air Force Base outside
Washington.
There was a lunch of black beans and rice, and father
and son kicked a volleyball around and the four huddled
together on a park bench for a family photo.
“They had a very quiet day, a family day — I don’t
think they had many visitors,” Gregory Craig, the lawyer for
the boy’s father, told The Associated Press late Sunday.
“I know they went out and took a walk ... I know they
were visited by the (Andrews Air Force Base) Easter
Bunny. Our kids put together two Easter baskets for them
that my assistant took out with some little stuffed animals,”
Craig said.
RELATIVES OUTSIDE GATES
But beyond the gates of the military compound, the
fierce battle over the boy raged on. His Miami relatives tried
for a second time to enter the base but were again turned
back.
Critics of the Clinton administration on Capitol Hill
were quick to assail the raid, and a key House Republican
called for a congressional inquiry into the Justice
Department’s action.
At a Capitol Hill news conference Sunday morning,
Elian’s cousin Marisleysis Gonzalez vowed that she would
not leave Washington until her family got to see him.
Gonzalez also suggested the photo presented to the
media by Juan Miguel Gonzalez showing a happy Elian
reunited with his father was a fake. The boy’s hair, she said,
appeared to be longer than it had been earlier in the day.
The charge was echoed by Miami’s mayor, Joe Carollo.
Craig called the claim “absurd,” adding that the photo
“came out of a disposable camera that Juan Miguel himself
had.”
Craig added that the father wanted his own family to
have two or three days of quiet time before we “start trying
to rebuild bridges with other family members.”
Craig offered the same advice to Gonzalez’s Miami
family. “I would have thought that the wiser course would
have been for them to rebuild bridges with other parts of the
family, rather than holding a press conference in Miami to
make their demands, than transporting that soap opera to
Washington, D.C., and holding another press conference to
make demands,” he said.
PROTEST AFTERMATH
Saturday’s raid, dubbed Operation Reunion, sparked
outrage in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, where
rioting protesters were held at bay by police with batons,
shields and pepper spray.
More than 300 people were arrested, and three police
officers were hospitalized after being attacked by a
man with a baseball bat. One man was charged in
that incident.
By midnight Saturday, the violent protests
subsided into a relatively peaceful parade as
thousands of cars with flags and honking horns
crawled through Miami’s Cuban-American
neighborhoods. The streets were quiet Sunday.
COURT BATTLE LOOMS
Saturday’s action was the most dramatic development
to date in the international dispute over the little boy, who
was plucked from the sea on Thanksgiving Day after the
boat carrying him from Cuba sank. His mother and 10
others on the boat died.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta is
scheduled to hear arguments May 11 on whether Elian can
seek asylum without his father’s permission, and whether
the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service should
have interviewed the boy to determine his wishes. The case
is being brought by Elian’s Miami relatives, but victory
would not necessarily mean the boy would return to them.
Juan Miguel Gonzalez has said he will remain in the United
States at least until the appeal has been settled. If the boy is
granted a hearing and, ultimately, political asylum, it will
raise several new questions: Will Elian’s father choose to
stay in the United States if his son asks for — and is granted
— political asylum? Will the boy even ask for political
asylum now that he is no longer living with his Miami
relatives?
Currently, parents generally speak for their children on
such matters. If Elian is granted asylum, that could have
far-reaching consequences, Deputy U.S. Attorney General
Eric Holder said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. If
foreign kids visiting Disneyland with their parents decided
they liked it so much they wanted to stay, Holder asked,
would they then be free to ask for political asylum in spite of
their parents’ wishes?
The case, legal experts say, could end in a matter of
weeks, but might drag on for months.
Soon after reuniting with his son, Juan Miguel Gonzalez
signed papers officially taking custody of the boy and
agreeing not to take him out of the country.
Elian and his family are expected to leave Andrews Air
Force Base in a few days for another nearby location.
GOP BACKLASH
Criticism of the raid from conservatives on Capitol Hill
was swift and strong.
On NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, the third-ranking
Republican in the House, Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, said,
“You bet there’ll be congressional hearings.”
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said the
armed raid “clearly was not justified” and blamed President
Bill Clinton. “This could only happen in Castro’s Cuba,” he
added.
The president said that the Justice Department
“showed great restraint, patience and compassion” in its
negotiations with Elian’s Miami relatives but that the time
had come for the government to take action. “The law has
been upheld, and that was the right thing to do,” Clinton
said.
The episode also had an impact on the presidential
election campaign: In a statement from Al Gore’s campaign
office in Nashville, the vice president repeated his previous
stand that “this issue should have been handled through a
family court and with the family coming together.”
Cuban President Fidel Castro praised Reno on Sunday
for “just” action in returning Elian to his father.